Projectile



Aug. 19, 1941. R w HIPPEN 2,253,074

PROJEGTILE Filed Jan. 4, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Ra/ph WH/ppen Aug. 19, 1941. R. w. HIPPEN PROJECTILE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 4, 1939 INVENTOR Ralph W. Hippen ,M wAd.

Patented Aug. 19, 1941 FPROJECTILE Ralph Hippen, Hobart; Okla.

I Applicationlanuapy 4, 1939,,TSerial'N0. 24 952 08 -41Glaims. (C1. 46-86) Th nve ti n relates: broadly to tipr ienct e and other devices of similar character andin certain -of its aspects -;-is in the nature of animpro vement; over the ,proj ectile :disclosed in Hipthe latch is adapted to roll down an incline --and ,strike the latch to move it to incperatiye;psintion when the :projectile assumes a predetermined position in flight. Thisallowsthe casing "to :open and the parachute to come out and the fall :Of the .prujectile is retarded by the lpara- Chute. 1

Projectiles of the type disclosed in said patent, dw spec a l s m d z t toy t ad.e,.: ust be of asrugged and foolproof construction as possible and of very low cost. .Thisfield is :very highly competitive and the difference of a fraction of a cent per, unit in costmay'mean the difference between a: successful commercial prod- .uct and an unsuccessfulone. I have :flfound that although the projectile disclosed in said patent is satisfactory n in workmanship and operation its cost-is sohigh that it does not occupy as favorable a position as its merit warrants in the :toy

field which is so highly; competitive ,pricewise. I havewimproved upon the projectile disclosedin said patent by great-1y simplifying its structure :while: still obtaining the same; results and imy new projectile ie -much lower in cost and there is practicallymo likelihood of its getting out;,;of corder. a

I have, found that-I canfconsiderably lighten the weight of the projectile, thus enabling'rit to be made of lighter material,;.byeliminating the large latch actuating ball and its guiding tube and providing insteadgravity actuated means carried by the latch. Such means can function efiectively when of comparatively small mass and I have found that by having thesameicarried by the latch :the amplitude of movement ther eof may be comparatively smalL -thus reducing the size of the cooperating parts. I I have lfoundthat-when the partsare properly designed and constructed it isonly necessary toimpart to the latch suf icient force to overcome the frictiona -between the latch and the keeper with which 'the latch cooperates tohold the casing closed, after which the latch swings open of its :one ef the casing-parts. able: tor the :connectionpf any two parts at: least .-one of which --is of vdefo1'mab1e imaterial and own accord. ThusI-am enabledto;reduce-toe minimum th sizetand amplitude oftrnovementrof the;gra vity bactuated meanswhich is carried by andeactshupon the latch.

I have made. a furt her improvement :over the .pnajectilet-disclosed in said. patent which is .also

important from the standpoint of I cost I, of manufacture. place of theclgnuckle hinge-construc tion used for ;-holdingthe casing-parts-together in said patent Ia; provide a novel and very simple hinge connection theflparts of which can he made integral-,withilthe respective parts: of the; casing, aspfor example, in 1a stamping operation. I

provide interengagealole projection and recess means onthe respectiye casing iparts whichl re- ,maintnorr nally in interengagement and are movgablerto and -f ro m their interengaged position @only upon p deformation lof qtheomaterial of at least its utility is not limited to projectiles.

Others-details, objects and advantagestofthe invention will become apparent as the 'IOllGW- ing description of certain, present preferred-embodiments thereof; proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown certain present preferredcembod-iments of :the invention, inwhich- Eigure leis aperspective View of a projectile; EiguretZ is a-sidevview of the projectile-shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is ;a -transwerse cross-sectional mew of the projectile shown in Eigures'l and z-ltalsen 011the'line-IIIFIIIZof 'Figure'Z Figures i is va detail .-view of h a portion of the projectile shownin'Figures 1, 2 and v3 show-i-ng (the latch -inioperative position with the proiectile moving generally vupwardly;

Eigure+5-is a yiew similar to Figure-,4; showing the .la-tchtin inoperative position with theaprojectile moving generally. downwardly;

;-Figure 6 is ai -view -of the-inside ofone pfgthe "casing .parts when suchparts are disassembled;

-:-Fi gure 'l isa yiew similar to Figure :6 of the other, casing partbut .in inverted position so that the; parts as shown in Figures 16 land 7 i are as they-would'lie ifdisassembled and laid back away from; each other; I h

Figure 8 is a perspective view of theprcjectile showing the parachute released;

I figures 9 and 10 are views similar to Figures 3 and 4,-respectively, but showing a modified formof structure; and

Figure-Allis an elevational views-showing [the .This feature is; adaptprojectile falling with the parachute operative.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, I provide a projectile having generally the shape and flight characteristics of an airplane and comprising a body 2 made up of opposed halves 3 and 4, respectively. Each of the halves or sections of the projectile carries a wing or airfoil 5 and an elevator 6. The section 4 carries a rudder I. The parts of the projectile just described are preferably made 01 light weight cheap sheet material. While thin sheet metal may be employed I have found Celluloid and similar synthetic materials to be highly suitable, as such materials are low in cost, light in weight and. of pleasing appearance. The particular projectile from which the patent drawings were made was constructed of Celluloid with the wings and elevators formed separately from the sections of the body and adhesively connected therewith, the rudder being stamped out integrally with the casing section 4, which reduces the cost of the device. Each of the casing sections is of generally elongated hollow shape, as shown in Figures 6 and '7. The casing section 3 carries as an integral portion thereof a supporting member 8, through which passes a pivot member 8'. Carried for pivotal movement about the pivot 9 in the casing section 3 is a latch 9 having a latching projection I0 adapted to engage a keeper I I on the section 4 to maintain the casing closed when the latch is in operative position, as will presently be explained. Connected with the latch 9 is an elongated cage I2 containing a small body or weight adapted during operation of the device to be actuated by gravity, as will presently be described. Such small body or weight isillustrated as in the form of a lead ball I3 and may be, for example, an ordinary BB shot. It is confined within the elongated cage I2 and is movable therein during operation of the device, as will be described.

There is provided a parachute I4 connected with the projectile by a line I5 which passes N through an eye IS in the casing'section 4 and is tied to the casing section 3 through an eye I! therein. I

Stamped out integrally with the casing section 3 is a pair of spaced projections I8 each having at its edge most remote from the other projection a hook I 9 facing away from the other projection. The casing section 4 has a pair of spaced recesses or slots 29 shaped to receive the projections, I8 when the parts are assembled. The projections I8 are, however, spaced apart slightly farther than the recesses 20 so that to enable assembly of the parts it is necessary'to bend or otherwise deform the section 3 to bring the projections slightly closer together or to stretch or otherwise deform the section 4 to slightly increase the distance, between the reand the recesses 29 is only approximately as great as the sum of the depths of the throats of the hooks I9. In assembling the casing sections preferably one of the hooks I9 is interengaged with the corresponding recess 20, thus making it necessary to deform one of the casing sections only sufiiciently to bring the projections closer together or separate the recesses a distance approximately equal to the depth of the throat of the other hook. The projectile shown in the drawings is drawn roughly to full scale and in such projectile the depth of the throat of each of the hooks I9 is approximately 1/16".

The operation of the device will now be described and in connection with the description thereof the relationship and functioning of the parts will be more clearly understood. In preparing the projectile for use the parachute is folded in such manner that upon opening of the casing it may readily be discharged therefrom so as to open and support the casing during falling and is then inserted into the casing, preferably with the line I5 beneath it, so that when the casing opens the line will not be in the wayand will permit properrelease and opening of the parachute. Before closing the casing it is held with the nose downwardly so that the latch is in inoperative position, as shown in Figure 5. The

latch itself tends to swing to such position about the pivot 8 due to gravity when the casing is held with its nose downwardly. When the parachute has been properly inserted the casing sections are closed and the casing is then tilted back to the position shown in Figures 2 and 4, the latch moving due to gravity into operative position with its latching projection Iil engaging the keeper I I to maintain the casing closed. When the casing is in this position the ball I3 moves to the rarer the cage I2, as shown.

The projectile is projected by any suitable means, such, for example, as a slingshot having a resilient projecting device, such as a rubber band, which is adapted to be received by the hook 2| at the nose of the casing and formed as a continuation of the rudder I. a The projectile is drawn back to stretch the rubber band and is then let go and projected by the rubber band up into the air. The projectile is preferably projected upwardly at at least a moderately steep angle, although the angle may be varied as desired- During upward movement of the projectile the ball I3 is maintained at the rear end of the cage I2 and the latch 9 is maintained in operative position by gravity and inertia. The rudder tends to maintain the projectile on a straight course and as the projectile nears the apex of its flight it tends by reason of being somewhat heavy in the nose and by rea'son of its design to simulate an airship to level off and fly, at least for a time, generally horizontally rather'than immediately turning its nose downwardly and plummeting to the ground. The wings 5 are, as shown in the drawings, made as airfoils tending to counteract to a certain extent at least the tendency of gravity to turn the nose of the projectile downwardly. Thus the force of gravity is counteracted bythe wings at least to a suflicient extent to cause the'casing to hoverin the air or move generally horizontally corresponding to the position in which the casing section 3 is shown in Figure 6. When the upwardinclination of the casing diminishes asthe projectile tends to level off and the casing assumes approximately the position of the casing section 3 in Figure 6 the.

latch counter-clockwise, viewing Figure 6, about the pivot 8. This force is sufficient to overcome the friction between the latch and the keeper, and the latch with such friction overcome moves by gravity to the inoperative position, as shown in Figures and 6. When the latch moves to inoperative position the ball I3 may move back to the rear end of the cage I2 if the casing does not nose downwardly very quickly. Thereafter as the casing noses more steeply downwardly before the parachute takes effect the ball may return to the forward end of the cage as shown in Figure 5. This, however, is immaterial as the ball has served its purpose upon its first movement above described from the rear to the forward end of the cage when its strikin against the forward end of the cage imparts to the latch sufiicient force to overcome the friction between the latch and the keeper, allowing the latch to swing by gravity to inoperative position.

When the latch moves to inoperative position,

as shown in Figures 5 and 6, the casing opens and the parachute comes out and opens up. As the line I5 passes through the eye I6 in one of the casing sections and is connected to the other casing section it causes the casing to close and the casing falls to earth supported by the parachute, as shown in Figure 11.

There is shown in Figures 9 and 10 a modified form of structure in which the ball l3 and the cage I2 are replaced by a slot 22 in the latch (which is designated 9) and a double headed button or rivet 23 is slidably mounted in the slot 22 for movement longitudinally of the slot and whose function is precisely the same as the function of the ball I3 as it moves in the cage I2 in the structure shown in Figures 2 to 7, inclusive. Figures 1, 8 and 11 show the device generally and so far as these figures are concerned the latch actuating means may be either the ball or the double headed button or rivet.

While I have shown and described certain present preferred embodiments of the invention, it is to be distinctly understood that the same is not limited thereto but may be otherwise variously embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A projectile comprising an openable casing, latch means normally maintaining the casing closed, and means carried and guided solely by the latch means gravity actuated upon movement of the casing to a predetermined position insuring movement of the latch means to inoperative position.

2. A projectile comprising an openable casing, latch means normally maintaining the casing closed, and a weight carried by and movable relatively to the latch means and adapted to strike a portion of the latch means to insure movement of the latch means to inoperative position.

3. A projectile comprising an openable casing, latch means connected with one portion of the casing adapted normally to engage another portion thereof to maintain the casing closed, and a weight carried by and movable relatively to the latch means and adapted when the casin assumes a predetermined position to move under the force of gravity relatively to the latch means and strike a portion of the latch means at the end of such movement whereby to overcome the friction between the latch means and the second mentioned portion of the casing and allow movement of the latch means to inoperative position.

4. A projectile comprising an openable casing, latch means normally maintaining the casing closed, guide means carried by the latch means, and gravity actuated means movable along said guide means controlling the latch means.

RALPH W. HIPPEN. 

